Apparently there has been a potential serious flaw in the coding in Java found by security experts. This can apparently be used for hacking attacks and and warning has been issued to recommend that users disable Java on their PC's until an update is issued. Thoughts?

I never actually knew or looked into what Java is for anyway. So, don't care I guess?

It's a programming language and a VM environment. People like programming against it because their apps normally work cross platform right out of the box. So you can program something once and it will work on Windows, Linux, and Mac. The problem is there are always security issues being discovered which leaves everyone vulnerable since almost everyone has it installed whether they know it or not. If you don't care about Java then uninstall it. Oracle likes to take their sweet time getting fixes out and usually each time they do it they open another flaw. There's been a couple of times where they have released an update and then you read that you should revert back to an older version.

what is java used for? what might a person who uses the internet use java for?

I can't remember

See:

@TyCobb said:

@Strife777 said:

I never actually knew or looked into what Java is for anyway. So, don't care I guess?

It's a programming language and a VM environment. People like programming against it because their apps normally work cross platform right out of the box. So you can program something once and it will work on Windows, Linux, and Mac. The problem is there are always security issues being discovered which leaves everyone vulnerable since almost everyone has it installed whether they know it or not. If you don't care about Java then uninstall it. Oracle likes to take their sweet time getting fixes out and usually each time they do it they open another flaw. There's been a couple of times where they have released an update and then you read that you should revert back to an older version.

You're better off just disabling it and seeing if anything breaks. At work I need to use it for a couple specific applications but otherwise I leave it disabled or uninstalled whenever possible. Java has been poked full of holes for a long time but it does seem to have escalated quite a bit these days.

Also Oracle sucks and I'm happy to disable or uninstall as much of their software as possible regardless of how secure it may be.

Help me understand; If it's a java exploit wouldn't you need to confirm the script from a website - that has to be affected too - that runs the platform before even consider getting infected? Or does it run completely in the background, java enabled websites or not, & hit Java plugins used in web browsers? Basically, is it something that can easily be prevented? & how does this hole work exactly? Either way, I've disabled it in the web browser / AddOns, assuming that's where the infection is.

I heard something about a shitty update months ago and disabled it... never bothered to enable it so i guess I'm keeping it that way.

Also, i have a hard time seeing how you could get a virus via Java because it can't simply "run" something without asking you for permission... etc as far as i knew, but hey, i know jack shit about this compared to some other. Than again, America had that good old book burning thing going on just yesterday so the US senate isn't exactly what I would trust on this one.

So are they trying to make people throw away their Android phones too? I guess Apple owns America.

Android doesn't run Java. Google just uses the language and then converts it to Dalvik byte code. You can make apps in C or C++ if you wanted to. Android's exploits come from the fact that it is open source, so anyone can potential find flaws in the system just by reading the code.

The problem with uninstalling Java is you never know what sites are using it.

You might delete it and find something you have to access that uses it.

@AmatureIdiot said:

Well I have to use a Java based website daily, so this is great.

No site, unless it is to run some sort of complex application, will not need Java in order to use it normally. Java is not to be confused with Javascript, they are two totally different things. I have had Java disabled in browser and connection level for 5 years without any problems while using the net.